Events In Motion
by starfury303
Summary: AU post 2.12 Damon/Elena/Stefan. Actions set events into motion, and love is not always easy. Elena doesn't want to choose between Damon and Stefan. Warning: violence, graphic sexual situations, language.
1. Chapter 1

Elena is lying in wait when Damon comes through the door, sitting on the sofa trying to pretend that she's not there just because she's worried about him. Really, though, there's no other reason she can come up with. Rose is dead, she saw Damon carry her body to his car. Stefan is off somewhere hunting down Isobel. There's no reason she should be here, in the boarding house, rather than sensibly in her own room, in her own house, staying as far away from troubled vampires as possible. And yet here she is.

Damon opens the door and just for a moment, she can see on his face how exhausted he is, how much pain he's in. Then he notices her and in an instant, his expression is as blandly unreadable as she's ever seen it.

"Hello Elena. I thought we agreed you were going home," he said.

"I did. I came back to be sure you were OK. Damon – " she catches his arm and turns him towards her as he starts to walk past – "Damon, talk to me. Rose died today, you're upset, and I'm here because I'm your friend."

"Upset? We've been over this Elena; _upset_ is an emotion specific to those who care. Which I don't. Rose died. In fact, I staked her, since she was taking far too long to die on her own. It's done. I don't care. And you should go away again because right now, I have a great deal of drinking to do and I'd like to get started on it without a high school girl holding me back. Go home. "

"Damon. Stop it. You care, I know you do. Stop pretending you don't feel anything." She has hold of both his arms now, she's looking up into his face and for a moment Damon is tempted, terribly tempted, to put his arms around her and bury his face in her hair and try to forget how awful this day has been. But he's already made his decision about Elena – _I don't deserve you, but my brother does_ – and so he breaks away from her hold and tries to think of something to say that will make her leave before she sees just how easily she can make him feel far too much.

"Forget it, Elena. Rose was my fault, it should have been me. I riled up Jules, I made her angry, and now Rose is dead because Jules came after me. So in your best do-gooder, killing is wrong judgment mode, shouldn't you be angry with me? Usually you're pretty pissed off when I kill people. Or in this case, get them killed. Don't go changing on me now. We've all got our roles to play: you're the moral high ground, Stefan is the martyr, and I – I, Elena, am the evil bloodthirsty vampire who snaps and kills people. And I like it that way. So leave me alone and go home, " he's leaning in, to say as threateningly as possible into her ear, " Before I decide that _you_ look tasty."

Elena just rolls her eyes at him. "Are you kidding me? Like I believe you're going to eat me, after all the times you've saved me. It's not going to work this time Damon, I am not afraid of you. And Rose is _not_ your fault. Sure, you provoked Jules. But you argued with Jules in a freaking bar, Damon. She knew you wouldn't kill her there. She could have slapped you. Put vervain in your drink. Outed you to the sheriff. But no, she went straight to hunting you down to kill you, and when she couldn't bite you, she bit Rose, who she had never laid eyes on before. So Rose is not your fault, and I will never blame you for her dying."

Elena steps closer, trying to convince him, because she can see this line of reasoning isn't getting though. "Damon. Our actions set events in motion, sure. But we are not always responsible for the outcomes. Other people's actions matter too. Jules murdered Rose. Tomorrow, you can be angry about that. You can go find Jules and rip her heart out. But tonight – tonight, Damon, just be sad, and let me take care of you. Please. "

Damon sighs, crosses his arms and leans back against the wall of the hallway. He can't find the energy to fight her any more. "Fine, Elena. Whatever. What exactly did you have in mind? This friend intervention you're doing had better involve bourbon, not chick flicks and ice-cream, or I might have to rethink the not killing you plan."

Elena just smiles at him now she's won. "Go have a hot shower, Damon. I'll meet you in your room in a few minutes, and I'll bring the drinks. Promise."


	2. Chapter 2

When Damon comes out of his bathroom he's only wearing black sweatpants and is still drying his hair with a towel. He puts it down to look at Elena, who is sitting on his bed, and she has a sudden flash of appreciation of how Jenna could call him ridiculously hot; all that lean muscle and with his eyes even more blue when his hair is dark with water like this. "You changed the sheets," he said as he comes towards her.

"Yes, after you left with Rose. There was blood on them, and well, I figured you didn't need to deal with that. Here." She's holding out a glass and as he takes it, he realizes it smells like warm blood. She's heated it up for him.

"I'm not hungry. I thought you were bringing the bourbon up here with you."

"I did. But you're starting with blood. You haven't eaten all day, and you need to eat before I start plying you with alcohol so you'll get some sleep. Come and sit down." She moves over to make space for him on the bed between her and the bedside table. "Blood heals, Damon. Drink it, and then eat the sandwich I made for you. It's even got pickles." Elena is smiling at him, and it's been a long day. So he chugs the blood and sits next to her, leaning against the headboard and reaching for the sandwich.

"You realize Stefan would hate you being here," Damon says between bites, with all the innuendo he can muster up. "I'm sure he would not be in favor of you in my bedroom, let alone on my bed wearing – what are you wearing, anyway? Yoga pants and a tank? This girls' night in doesn't rate the cute shorty pajamas? "

"It's winter, Damon. It's a little cold for sleep shorts, and as for Stefan, OK, he probably wouldn't like it," Elena looks at him and sighs. "Alright, definitely wouldn't. But that's a problem for tomorrow, along with Elijah having free access to my house, Katherine being in the tomb, and crazed werewolves chasing you. We're on a timeout for tonight, OK? Just like Georgia, all the problems can wait. For now, we're hanging out, so eat and then we can have some drinks. I brought up the tequila for me. "

An hour later Damon is feeling no pain for what seems like the first time in months. He's drinking bourbon like water, and Elena is drinking tequila shots. She's ended up sitting facing him and every time she reaches forward to the bedside table to pour herself another drink there's a dizzying view down her shirt. Somewhere in the back of his head there's a voice saying _mmm, that's a front-clasp bra she has on, you could undo that in a hot second_ but he's doing his best to ignore it. He drags his eyes back up to her face and tries to focus on what she's talking about.

"So tell me a good memory, Damon. You're what, 168 years old? It can't all have been doom and gloom vampire disaster stories. There must be something fun that happened in 145 years of being a vampire."

"You're going to have to be more specific. That's a long time. Pick a decade," Damon says with a lazy smile and another swallow of bourbon. "I've had lots of _fun_ we can talk about Elena, or are you going to rule out any stories about killing people?"

Elena rolls her eyes at him. "Yes, no killing people. Something normal. OK – twenties".

"Easy. Paris. There was a vampire salon there in the twenties. And great jazz."

"Thirties."

"Africa. Lots of lonely colonial widows in Africa in the thirties," he's smirking at her now ,"very lonely. I had a place on the Chobe River; I used to watch the elephants cross the river in the mornings."

"Sixties."

"London. High fashion and lots of girls in short skirts looking to rebel. And before you ask, in the seventies I was in New York. Warhol loved me. So what about you? Give me an Elena Gilbert top memory."

"Visiting the lake house with my parents and Jenna. We went out there for the day just a few weeks before they died, to clean up the house before summer really started. It was hot, and Jeremy and I spent the whole day diving in off the dock, and that night my dad grilled burgers. It was just this perfect day, you know? The whole family, together. I think it was the last day we were all together before the accident." Elena looks at him and there are tears in her eyes. "I still miss them every day. I wonder what they'd think about me being involved with you and Stefan."

Damon can't stop himself; he reaches out to touch her face, trying to think of something comforting to say. "I'm sorry, Elena. I didn't mean to upset you,"

"No, it's alright. It's a happy memory. It just makes me sad, wishing they were here," she takes the hand he has against her cheek and holds it in her lap. "What about you? Best memory ever?"

Damon takes a deep breath. "Really? Seeing you at the top of those stairs when we rescued you from Rose and Trevor. I was sure you were dead before we went in, I figured we were just there to take revenge on whoever killed you. Then you were alive, and it was … the closest thing to a miracle I can think of."

Elena looks down at their hands, and up at Damon again. "Why do you keep saving me, Damon? I know you think I'm naïve, and annoying, and I look just like Katherine, which can't be easy for you. Why do you keep coming to my rescue?"

"Why? Because I can't bear to think about you being dead. I'm 168 years old, and I've seen so many people die, but you, Elena – I can't go there. I won't." He's looking at her face, trying to read it. This is so close to saying he loves her, and he promised himself he wouldn't do that, but he can't lie to her, either.

"Damon – you have to know I feel that way about you, too. When Jules bit Rose – I didn't want Rose to die, but part of me was so terrified that it could have been you." There are tears rolling down Elena's face now, but she's not stopping. "I've spent the last few days thinking, _that could be Damon_ whenever Rose got worse. I'm so sorry I said that you'd lost me forever, because it's not true. Watching Rose die – it just reminded me, how quickly we can lose the people we love. And I know this makes me a terrible person, because I do love Stefan, but I love you too, Damon, and I need you to know that you matter to me."

Elena leans forward and Damon is so surprised he's stopped breathing, thinking, everything in the room has narrowed down to Elena pressing her mouth to his, tentatively at first but then she brings her hands up to rest against his shoulders for balance. She's leaning in and her mouth opens under his and she's kissing him harder; her tongue touches his and Damon is lost. He doesn't care if this is a good idea, all that matters right now is pulling her closer, his hand on the curve of her waist, her breasts against his chest, the silk of her hair falling around their faces.

_A/N Sorry for the long delay between posts, I had pneumonia and was too sick to feel like writing. Should go faster now, next chapter will be smut central, I promise ;)_


	3. Chapter 3

Kissing Elena feels so right that Damon thinks he could do this forever. He's caught up in the heat of her mouth, in the little sounds she's making as she presses herself against him. He rolls her on her back and starts to kiss his way down her neck, and this is even better because he can smell the sweet scent of her skin and hear her saying his name in a breathy, needy tone of voice that makes it clear Elena's as desperate for his touch as he is for hers. He pushes her tank top down around her waist and snaps open the clasp on her bra, wanting more skin, wanting to be closer. He's licking his way across her breast and when he closes his mouth on her nipple _so good, her nipples already hard_ _against his tongue_ Elena cries out, arching her back, her hands in his hair holding his mouth against her. He resists her hold just enough to switch to her other breast, sucking that nipple too, making her moan his name again.

Hearing her is just making him crazier, he wants to touch and kiss and lick every inch of her skin. Part of him wants to make this fast, wants to drive her just as insane with lust as he is, wants to be inside her_ right now_ making her scream his name in pleasure. But a bigger part wants to go slow, to savor every scent and sound and touch, lost in the sheer pleasure of making love with Elena. He's wanted this for so long, and the way she's responding to him is everything he's ever dreamed of from her. He slides further down, running his tongue down her stomach to circle around her belly button, pushing her tank and the top of her yoga pants down to lick along the edge of her panties while his hands slide down the back of her thighs, pulling her legs a little wider as he settles in between them. Elena is panting, her eyes wide, her hands clenched in the sheets, torn between _oh god, don't stop there_ and _do that some more_.

"Elena," Damon says, looking up along her body. "Are you sure about this? Because I don't want to stop, - god, do I not want to stop - but you're the one dating Stefan, and you're the one who swore you'd never kiss me back. I don't think I could handle it if tomorrow you said this was just the tequila."

Elena is pulled out of her happy glow at his words. Because he's right, she been putting Stefan out of her head, caught up in how good this feels. "Damon," she says hesitantly, and sits up, biting her lip. His face begins to harden, expecting rejection, and just that fast, with vampire speed, he's sitting on the edge of the bed, his back to her. She pulls up her tanktop and crawls across the bed to sit behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Damon, I want this. I should have talked to Stefan first, sure. I wasn't expecting anything to happen tonight. But what you said that night in my room was right. I fought it for a long time, but you were right. There is something between us, and I want it. I want you. The question is – do you want me? I love you. But I also love Stefan. Can you live with that? Do you want to live with that? Because I would understand if you didn't want to be with me, the whole in love with both of you thing freaks me out when I think too hard about it. I know how Katherine hurt you both, and I couldn't bear it if I did that to you as well."

"Elena," Damon sighs, and turns to look at her. "Elena, I'm not going to lie, I'd rather it was just me you loved. Because I think Stefan is going to take this really badly. But truthfully? I don't give a damn about how many men you're in love with, even if one of them is my brother. You could be in love with ten brothers, if I had them, and I still wouldn't care if it meant that you were in my bed at the end of the day."

"Really? You're really OK with it?

"Yes." Damon looks at her and decides to throw caution to the winds. To hell with whether he deserves her, with what Stefan thinks, with how badly this is probably going to play with all Elena's friends. He doesn't care anymore if it means he can be honest with Elena. "I'm in love with you, Elena, and everything I've tried to not be in love with you has failed. I've been mean to you, I've gotten drunk, I've slept with other women, and it all ends up with me right back here, in love with you. And trust me, in over a hundred years of being alive a three-way with my brother is not the kinkiest thing I've ever done. So it's your choice, Elena. Spend the night with me, and tomorrow we'll figure out some way to break it gently to Stefan. Or leave now, if you want to, because I promise you, if you thought being in love with one vampire made your life difficult, two is going to be harder. Although," he manages a tiny smirk for her, "of course, you'll have me to rock your world for you on a regular basis."

Elena smiles at him, and it's so open and loving that his breath catches. "Ooh, confident. I like that in a boyfriend," she says, and leans in to kiss him, tangling her hand in his hair to bring his face to hers.

"So, you're staying then?" Damon says, pulling away from the kiss and arching an eyebrow questioningly.

"Yes, I'm staying."

"Well, in that case, Miss Gilbert, I think you should prove you're serious by taking your clothes off. Preferably after getting properly back onto the bed where you belong," Damon grins at her and picking her up around the waist, effortlessly moves them back into the middle of the bed. Elena's flat on her back and he's leaning over her, and just the way he's looking at her is getting her hot and bothered again. "I'm sure I'll feel much better about the impending disaster of telling everyone about you and me if you were naked."

"Mm, I think I can manage that," Elena smiles back at him and reaches for the hem of her tanktop, pulling it off over her head. She hooks her fingers in her waistband and pushes down her yoga pants and panties, sitting up to scoot both of them off over her feet. "But I think," she pulls him into a kiss, "that there should be some quid pro quo here. If I'm getting naked, you should be too. It's going to be hard to rock my world if you're still wearing your clothes."

"Oh, I think you're sadly underestimating me. But anything for you." Damon slides his sweatpants off and tosses them off the bed and rolls back over to kiss her again. His hands are on her face and the kiss is hot and wet and just like that, she's burning up for him. It's so much more than before; she can feel the whole length of his body against hers. Her legs are either side of his and she can feel him hard against her. Elena slides her hands down Damon's back, letting out a moan as she feels his mouth on her breast again. He's gotten a hand between them, he's put two fingers inside her and she presses against his hand while he's saying in her ear, "God Elena, you're so wet for me, you feel so good,"

"Damon, don't tease me." She moves his hand away, wanting more, arching up against his cock, rubbing him through her wetness. "I want you inside me now, please Damon." Elena reaches down and wraps a hand around his cock, which makes Damon hiss in reaction. She's putting him where she wants him, sliding herself onto him and Damon can't go slow any more. He grabs one of the pillows, putting it under her hips so she's at the perfect angle for him to press all the way inside her. Elena's crying out with pleasure, wrapping her legs around him, he's got an arm around her waist to brace her as he starts to fuck her hard. She's saying his name, "_Damon, more, yes.."_ and then he finds the exact right angle, he can tell because she stops being able to make words and a minute later starts coming hard around him, which is enough to make him lose all control and he comes with her so hard that for a few seconds his brain just whites out with pleasure. When he starts to think again, Elena is still breathless underneath him, her eyes closed, kissing him, and for a moment all he feels is _happiness_, a pure joy that he's pretty sure he hasn't felt since 1864.

_AN D/E smut as promised! Hope you enjoy it. Please review!_


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